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Bio:
Originally a live covers band called Blazer, the name change followed a desire
to perform their own material, apparently, though in fact Cruella were studio bound
for most of their career and
rarely played live. Their debut single on Good Vibrations in 1982 was picked up by Polydor but
didn't lead to a deal. A second single appeared on Good Vibes the same year.
They appeared on Anything Goes (RTE) in January 1983 and the
Belfast Special edition of Channel 4's "The Tube" aired a self-produced
video for "Gypsy Girl" in March 1983 which caused a bit of a stir and led to a deal with EMI Records.
EMI released a few singles during 1983-84 and there were high expectations
for the planned LP with Roy Wood producing. Wood became sick and engineer
Dick Plant did most of the actual production work but the album, for whatever
reason, never materialised. Tapes exist
of at least one unreleased track "Who's At The Door" (now on youtube - see below).
The band split by 1985.
Cruella De Ville's records are highly polished with some fantastic guitar but
the production is gimmicky and the munchkin vocals are an acquired taste. They've
been compared to Queen and The Move and there's a definite glam influence at work
as well as a larger than life, cartoon-ish quality. There is still much interest
in the band today. A compilation CD would be most welcome, but as if often the
case with these things, there are some difficulties preventing this from happening
as quickly as everyone would like. Let's hope it happens sooner rather than later.
Mike Edgar replaced Stephen Mulholland after the first single. Mike was previously
in The Peasants with Colm Muinzer's brother Malachy.
He currently has all the Cruella master tapes. He now works for the BBC.
There is an excellent fan website (see below) that is worth a look.
The band's videos are also available online here.
An officially sanctioned soundcloud page can be found here here.
Produced by Cruella with Rastus (track A1), Ron Hill (track B1) and Dick Plant & Roy Wood (track B2).
We need your help to correct and/or complete this entry. If you can provide more information about this band, have scans, photos or any other memorabilia we can use, or spare copies of any releases, then please get in touch.